A New Report Finds The DOE Is Costing The U.S. Economy Thousands Of Jobs And Billions Of Dollars In Economic Activity

The Department of Energy, or DOE, in reviewing plans to build LNG terminals, could cost the U.S. economy thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity, a new report says.

The American Council for Capital Formation, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., published the report, “Liquefied Natural Gas: Why Rapid Approval of the Backlog of Export Applications is Important for U.S. Prosperity,” on Thursday.

Currently, there are 20 applications to build and operate LNG export terminals under review by the DOE. There have been delays, however, and delaying the decision process could make it difficult for the U.S. to compete with other countries that are already in the process of building export facilities, the report states.

“If we delay the approval of the projects, we are not going to be able to sign long time contracts, like with Korea and Japan,” Margo Thorning, the report’s author said.

In the past two year, only two projects have been approved with the most recent decision being made in May.

On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of 32 senators wrote to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz urging the DOE to expedite LNG permit applications.